Haiti: Briefing and Consultations*
Tomorrow afternoon (20 November), the Security Council will hold an open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on Haiti. The meeting was requested by China and Russia to discuss a proposal by Ecuador and the US—the co-penholders on Haiti—to transform the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission authorised by resolution 2699 of 2 October 2023 into a UN peacekeeping operation. Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenča, Kenyan National Security Adviser Monica Juma, and two civil society representatives are expected to brief.**
Following a request from Haitian authorities for international assistance to reinforce the efforts of the Haitian National Police (HNP) to combat gangs, resolution 2699 authorised member states to form and deploy the MSS mission to Haiti to help the HNP re-establish security in the country and build conditions conducive to holding free and fair elections. The resolution authorised the mission under Kenya’s leadership for an initial period of 12 months, specifying that the cost of the operation would be borne by voluntary contributions and support from individual countries and regional organisations.
During the negotiations on resolution 2699, Ecuador and the US initially sought to include language about the possible transformation of the mission into a UN peacekeeping operation, which would be funded through member states’ assessed contributions. This provision was not included in the final text because of opposition from China and Russia, which referred to the chequered history of past UN peacekeeping operations in Haiti and argued that the country’s political and security conditions were not conducive to a new operation. Subsequent assessments and media reporting indicated that the MSS mission would comprise up to 2,500 security personnel, deployed in phases, at an annual cost of approximately $600 million.
The mission was initially scheduled to deploy in February, but that timeline was repeatedly postponed for several reasons, including a lack of funding, a judicial challenge in Kenya, and, most recently, a surge in gang violence in Haiti, which prompted the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to facilitate an agreement among Haitian stakeholders on a political transition to stabilise the country’s security situation and restore democratic governance. Subsequently, in June and July, Kenya deployed the mission’s first two contingents, totalling approximately 400 of the 1,000 police officers that the country has pledged to the mission. In September, the first Caribbean contingent arrived, comprising 24 military and police officers from Jamaica and two military officers from Belize.
According to media reports, the MSS mission has helped the HNP achieve some success in retaking certain neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince that were previously under gang control. It remains under-resourced, however, facing funding and equipment shortfalls that limit its ability to scale up its physical presence and take and hold additional territory. In line with resolution 2699, which requested the Secretary-General to provide recommendations on possible adaptations to the MSS mission’s mandate within nine months, the Secretary-General’s 27 June report on the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) said that the mission’s mandate “remains valid and will remain necessary” as Haiti continues to prepare for elections, but it cautioned that the financial contributions and pledges that the mission had received to date remained insufficient for the mission to fulfil its budgetary and operational needs. Similarly, in his most recent BINUH report, dated 15 October, the Secretary-General noted that the UN-administered trust fund for the MSS mission had received $85 million, which “falls short of the required funds estimated by Kenya”.
Consequently, during Council negotiations on resolution 2751 of 30 September, which renewed the MSS mission’s authorisation for another year, Ecuador and the US again sought to include language signalling the Council’s intention to transform the mission into a UN peace operation, which would help solve its funding shortfall. China and Russia still opposed this measure, however, reiterating their position that conditions on the ground in Haiti were not conducive to UN peacekeeping and arguing that the MSS mission should reach its full operational capacity before discussing such a transformation. The final text of the resolution therefore did not include any reference to a UN peace operation. (For more information, see our 29 September What’s in Blue story.)
Subsequently, on 21 October, Haiti’s transitional government sent a letter to the Council, officially requesting it to transform the MSS mission into a UN peacekeeping mission “as soon as possible”. On 25 October, Ecuador and the US circulated to Council members a new draft resolution taking note of Haiti’s request and directing the Secretary-General to begin contingency preparations for such a transformation, including by submitting to the Council recommendations for the size, structure, and mandate of the proposed UN mission. China and Russia declined to participate in negotiations on the draft resolution, asserting that their previously stated positions had not changed and that there was therefore no reason for them to engage on the text. On 13 November, Ecuador and the US put a revised draft under silence procedure, which China and Russia broke on the following day (14 November), restating their positions and requesting an open briefing and closed consultations to discuss the matter.
At tomorrow’s briefing, Jenča may reiterate the view expressed by the Secretary-General in his letter dated 14 August 2023—which outlined support options that the UN could provide to address the security situation in Haiti—that “the current context in Haiti is not conducive to peacekeeping”. Noting that improving security in the country would require the restoration of law and order and the reduction of violence by neutralising heavily armed gangs, as well as the protection of critical infrastructure and the re-establishment of state presence across the country, the report stated that “nothing short of the robust use of force…by a capable specialized multinational police force enabled by military assets…would be able to achieve these objectives”. Jenča may also provide an update on broader political developments in Haiti, including the 10 November decision by the country’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC)—which was established by the CARICOM-facilitated agreement on transitional governance arrangements—to fire Prime Minister Garry Conille, whom the TPC had appointed in May.
Among Council members, China and Russia are expected to reiterate their opposition to transforming the MSS into a UN peacekeeping mission based on their previous arguments. On the other hand, Ecuador, the US, and other members may stress the severity of Haiti’s gang violence, highlight the MSS mission’s challenges in adequately addressing the situation, and advocate for peacekeeping as the only effective response to the scale of the crisis. The closed consultations following the open briefing may provide an opportunity for Council members to discuss the proposed draft resolution at ambassador level.
_________________________________________________________
*Post-script (19 November, 06:45 pm): After the publication of this story, two civil society representatives were also requested to brief the Council. One was requested by Russia, supported by China, and the other by Ecuador and the US.
**Post-script (20 November, 08:15 am): The story has been updated again to reflect that Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenča has replaced Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo as briefer. Kenyan National Security Adviser Monica Juma has also been added as a briefer.
